No. 17 Furman Given All it Can Handle at Mercer in SoCon Opener

Furman All-SoCon Defensive End Gary Wilkins Changes Game With 19-yd INT return For Score Early In Fourth Quarter

MACON, GA.–In a matchup that had plenty of storylines coming in, 17th-ranked Furman held on for a 25-20 win over Mercer Saturday night in Southern Conference action in front of a record crowd of 12,227 fans at Mercer University Football Stadium.

The game marked Mercer’s first-ever as a Southern Conference member, and it pitted Bears head coach Bobby Lamb against his alma mater and former employer. The Paladins also handed the previously unbeaten Bears their first loss at home since the program’s resurrection last season, as Mercer dropped to 9-1 inside the friendly confines of MU Stadium.

Mercer (1-1, 0-1) would hold a pair of leads in the contest, but couldn’t sustain the big-play Paladins, who came to Macon as the defending Southern Conference champaions. With Furman (2-0, 1-0) holding a narrow 16-14 lead, Mercer had the football on first-and-10 on its own 23 with a little under 13 minutes remaining in the game when All-SoCon defensive end Gary Wilkins intercepted a John Russ pass and rumbled into the end zone, giving the Paladins their first two score lead of the night, at 25-14. Furman’s two-point conversion failed, keeping the advantage at 11.

Mercer would get the ball back and make things interesting, as the Bears would cause a turnover of their own late in the game, as the intercepted a tipped pass off the fingertips of Jordan Snellings and into waiting arms of Mercer outside linebacker Tyler Ward, and the Bears would set up shop at their own 39.

Russ proceeded to drive the Bears 61 yards in seven plays, completing the scoring toss to JT Palmer, making it a 25-20 game with 3:34 remaining. The Bears’ two point conversion failed, leaving the advantage at five for the Paladins.

After the on-sides kick for the Bears failed, Furman was able to advance the ball down to the Mercer 33 before turning the football over on downs with three seconds left. On the final play of the night, the Paladins were able to squelch any hopes of a come-from-behind win for the Bears, when Russ’ hail mary pass was knocked down by Rodney Anderson to preserve the win.

The Paladins would control the opening half of football, yet carried just a 13-7 lead into the halftime locker room. Furman out-gained the Bears 216-98 in the opening half of play, including having running 24 more plays (44-20) and holding better than a 10-minute edge (20:06-9:54) in possession time.

Dillon Woodruff, who was making his second start under center for the Paladins, stepped in for the injured Reese Hannon and did a nice job engineering the Paladin offense. Woodruff finished the night completing 14-of-29 passes for 228 yards and an INT.

The story of the night offensively for the Paladins was freshman place-kicker Jon Croft Hollingsworth, who connected on 4-of-5 field goal attempts in the contest, connecting on kicks of 21, 35, 22 and 50 yards (7th longest in program history) to put forth his second strong effort of the season, and now has connected on 6-of-7 field goal attempts in his first two games as a Paladin.

The Paladins would open the contest with an impressive drive to open the contest, advancing the ball 70 yards in 15 plays, which would eventually be capped by a 21-yard field goal from Hollingsworth, giving the Paladins a 3-0 lead with 7:10 remaining in the opening half of the football game.

Furman would increase its lead to 6-0 early in the second quarter, as Woodruff helped orchestrate a 12-play, 46-yard drive, culminating in a second Hollingsworth field goal in the half with 10:42 remaining until the break.

Mercer would get its offense in gear on the ensuing drive, taking its first of two leads in its inaugural SoCon athletic event, as the Bears covered 87 yards in 13 plays, as freshman Alex Lakes capped the drive with a 2-yard TD run, and after Tyler Zielenske’s PAT, the Bears held a 7-6 lead with 4:31 remaining in the opening half.

Just before the half, however, the Paladins would answer the Bears’ score by putting together their first TD drive of the night, as the Paladins efficiently managed the clock, as well as taking advantage of a Mercer unpsportsmanlike penalty on Grant Wiles, which moved the ball from the 23 to the 38 for the Paladins to start the drive. From there, the Paladins put together an eight-play, 62-yard drive, as Hank McCloud capped the drive on a 5-yard scoring run, reaching the end zone virtually untouched to take a 13-7 lead into the half.

Mercer would receive the opening kick of the second half, and would take their second lead of the night with another impressive drive engineered by Russ. The Bears covered 73 yards in nine plays, with Russ completing his first of two scoring tosses of the night finding a wide open Robert Brown in the right corner of the end zone, and after the successful PAT, Mercer took the 14-13 lead with 11:06 remaining in the third quarter.

The key play in the drive saw Russ mix the run and pass with some excellent efficiency, and his 41-yard completion to D’Vante Penamon on a 2nd-and-10 play from the Mercer 27 was the longest pass play yielded by the Paladin defense so far this season.

The methodical, but efficient Paladin offense would once again rise to meet the adversity and quell the hopeful Mercer capacity crowd, as the Paladins would get a big play from their special teams after forcing Mercer’s Rob East to punt from deep in his own end zone.

On the ensuing East punt, Furman redshirt sophomore wideout Chad Scott returned the ball 31 yards to the Mercer 9-yard line, eventually leading to Hollingsworth’s third field goal of the night, this time from 22 yards out, giving the Paladins the lead once again, 16-14, with 4:25 remaining in the third quarter.

Furman would create a little breathing room, as the Paladins’ defense forced a punt on Mercer’s next drive, and Woodruff and the Paladin offense went to work once again with 1:17 remaining in the third quarter. After the drive stalled at the Mercer 32, Hollingsworth came on to knock through a 50-yard field goal, securing a 19-14 lead for Furman–its largest since just before the half–with 12:52 remaining in the game.

That would set the stage for Wilkins’ play, which would take the wind out of the sails for Mercer, as on a 1st-and-10 from the Mercer 23, the All-SoCon defensive end jumped and plucked the Russ pass out of the air, and proceeded to rumble 19 yards to the end zone to break open a tight game and give the Paladins a little room to breathe, giving Furman a 25-14 lead with 12:38 to play.

It marked Wilkins’ second pick six of his career, as he also picked off a pass against Appalachian State last season, hurdled a defender, and sprinted 98 yards in a 27-10 win over the Mountaineers. Wilkins’ INT return marks the fifth pick returned for a score by the Paladins in the past two seasons. It was also Wilkins’ third defensive score of his career, registering a fumble recovery for a score against Appalachian State in Boone a couple of years ago.

On offense, McCloud finished with a solid effort in his first outing of the season for the Paladins, as he rushed for 74 yards on yards and a TD on 17 rush attempts. McCloud teamed with Antonio Wilcox, who added 57 yards on 11 carries.

For the second-straight game, Jordan Snellings led Furman’s receiving efforts, hauling in five passes for 111 yards, while tight end Duncan Fletcher hauled in four passes for 70 yards in the win.

Defensively, the Paladins were led by Cory Magwood, who posted 14 stops, while Wilkins added 10 stops, an INT and a pass deflection.

The Bears got a solid effort from quarterback John Russ, who finished the night connecting on 11-of-21 passes for 135 yards, with a pair of TDs and an INT, while rushing for 50 yards on nine attempts.

Redshirt freshman running back Alex Lakes rushed for 76 yards and a TD on 16 carries, while JT Palmer led the Bears’ receiving efforts with six catches for 64 yards. The Paladins out-gained the Bears 367-286 in total yards in the contest.

The win improves the Paladins to 2-0 to start a season for the first time since 2009, when the Paladins opened the campaign with victories over Presbyterian (45-21) and at Chattanooga (38-20). The win also marked the seventh in the last eight games for the Paladins.

Furman returns to non-conference action next week when it travels to face Presbyterian in Clinton , S.C., as the Paladins go in search of their first 3-0 start since 2004 and 16th-straight win over the Blue Hose. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Bailey Memorial Stadium next Saturday.